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The  Coming  Unity 

A Sermon  Preached  in 
THE  FIFTH  AVENUE  BAPTIST  CHURCH 
New  York  City 
By 

REV.  CHARLES  F.  AKED,  D.  D. 
Sunday  morning,  December  20,  1908. 


V 


The  Coming  Unity 


A Sermon  Preached  in  the  Fifth  Avenue  Baptist  Church, 
New  York  City 


By  the  REV.  CHARLES  E.  AKED,  D.  D. 


Sunday  morning,  December  20,  1908. 


COMPLIMENTS  OF 
EDGAR  L.  MARSTON 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/comingunityOOaked 


THE  COMING  UNITY. 


T’/iej!  shall  become  one  flocl^,  one  shepherd. — John  10;  16. 


Those  of  you  who  still  read  the  Scriptures  in  the  Authorised 
V ersion  make  the  Holy  Spirit  responsible  for  many  things  of  which 
a moderately  good  man  or  woman  would  be  ashamed.  It  becomes  a 
fair  question  whether  superintendents  and  teachers  of  Sunday  Schools 
who  place  King  James’  Version  in  the  hands  of  their  scholars  are 
not  incurring  the  censure  pronounced  upon  those  who  love  darkness 
rather  than  light,  even  though  their  acts  are  not  evil  and  though  their 
motives  are  pure.  With  so  many  modern  and  improved  versions  open 
to  their  choice,  the  “English  Revised  Version,”  the  “American 
Revised  Version,”  the  “New  Testament  in  Modern  Speech,”  the 
“Twentieth  Century  New  Testament,”  and  others,  it  is  more  than 
strange  that  people  who  love  their  Bible  should  be  content  to  remain 
ignorant  of  some  of  its  deepest  meanings. 

If  you  read  this  text  in  the  Authorized  Version  you  find 
ascribed  to  our  Lord  a narrowness  of  which  His  divine  nature  was 
incapable.  If  you  accept  it  as  a veritable  saying  of  His  you  are 
back  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  old  intolerant,  persecuting  days.  In 
the  Authorized  Version  Christ  is  made  to  say  that  “ there  shall  be 
one  fold  and  one  shepherd.”  It  was  impossible  for  Him  to  say  such 
a thing — at  least  I feel  it  to  be  impossible.  I should  have  to  be  taken 
to  pieces  and  put  together  again,  my  whole  intellectual  and  spiritual 
make-up  transformed,  before  I could  understand  our  Lord  saying 
anything  of  the  kind.  If  there  is  to  be  only  one  fold,  then  the  proper 
and  immediate  question  is.  Which  fold  ? If  one  is  the  right  fold, 
others  must  be  wrong  folds  or  no  fold  at  all.  Is  it  then  the  Baptist 
Church,  or  the  Methodist,  or  the  Presbyterian,  or  the  Episcopal, 
which  is  the  right  fold  ? Is  it  even  the  Protestant,  or  the  Catholic  ? 
And  how  dreadful  it  must  be  to  find  one’s  way  into  the  wrong  fold. 


3 


which  after  all  is  not  a fold  at  all ! Such  considerations  justify  the 
most  tremendous  efforts  at  proselytising.  And  I do  not  wonder  that 
in  human  history  they  have  seemed  to  justify  the  most  outrageous 
persecutions.  Happily,  there  is  no  need  for  us  to  place  our  head 
beneath  the  yoke  of  such  a tyranny.  Christ  said  that  there  should  be 
one  “flock,”  not  one  “fold.”  There  are  many  folds,  ecclesiastical  and 
non-ecclesiastical.  Episcopal,  Presbyterian,  Independent,  Catholic, 
Protestant,  and  folds  that  are  known  by  none  of  these  names,  and 
yet  there  shall  be  “one  flock,  one  shepherd.”  In  plain  words,  Christ 
said,  “Other  sheep  I have  which  are  not  of  this  fold:  them  also  must  I 
lead,  and  they  shall  hear  my  voice  ; and  they  shall  become  one  flock, 
one  shepherd.”  There  has  never  been  the  least  justification  for  trans- 
lating the  word  fold.  The  person  who  has  known  as  little  elementary 
Greek  as  is  taught  m a High  School  has  always  known  that  the  word 
meant  flocl^.  And  I am  afraid  that  nothing  but  ecclesiastical  bias 
has  been  responsible,  first,  for  putting  the  word/oW  there,  and  second, 
for  retaining  it.^'  Let  us  take  our  Lord’s  words  as  our  Lord  meant 
them.  He  looked  forward  to  the  time  when  all  who  named  them- 
selves by  His  name,  though  they  were  gathered  into  different  folds, 
should  be  one  flock,  with  Himself  the  one  Shepherd. 

I have  chosen  to  speak  to  you  this  morning  about  the  coming 
unity  amongst  religious  people,  and  this  for  two  reasons ; 

First,  because  “ the  time  draws  near  the  birth  of  Chnst,”  the 
season  of  good  will.  In  England  ten  or  a dozen  years  ago  some  of 
us  agreed  that  on  one  of  the  Christmas  Sundays,  the  Sunday  before 
or  the  Sunday  after  Christmas  Day  in  each  year,  we  would  preach 
upon  the  characteristic  teaching  and  life  of  some  denomination  the 
furthest  removed  from  that  to  which  we  belonged,  and  we  would 
say  everything  we  could  think  of  that  was  good  about  this  denomin- 
ation. We  left  ourselves  free  to  select  the  denomination  from  which 
we  differed  most  profoundly,  but  we  covenanted  with  each  other  to 
omit  all  the  negative  propositions,  to  say  nothing  about  the  points 

* The  same  word  is  found  in  the  following  New  Testament  passages;  Matthew  26  ; 31. 
“ I will  smite  the  shepherd,  and  the  sheep  of  the  flocl^  shall  be  scattered  abroad.”  Luke  2 ; 8. 
“And  there  were  shepherds  in  the  same  country  abiding  in  the  field,  and  keeping  watch  by  night 
over  their  ^oc^.”  I Corinthians  9;  7.  “Who  feedeth  a flock.,  and  eatelh  not  of  the  milk  of 
the  flock-  ” 


4 


wherein  we  differed,  and  only  to  bear  testimony  to  the  virtues  and 
excellencies  and  graces  of  that  particular  Church.  We  felt  that  the 
Church  and  the  world  would  be  the  better  for  a growing  appreciation 
amongst  Christians  of  forms  of  goodness  different  from  one’s  own. 

The  other  reason  for  asking  your  attention  to  this  subject  this 
morning  is  that  there  has  just  been  held  in  Philadelphia  the  meeting 
of  the  first  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  and 
it  is  of  the  very  first  importance  that  people  like  yourselves  should  be 
familiar  with  the  hopes  which  it  represents.  Three  years  ago,  meet- 
ings were  held  in  this  city  preparatory  to  the  Philadelphia  gatherings, 
meetings  of  men  who  were  thinking  and  inquiring  and  planning  and 
feeling  their  way.  They  called  themselves  then,  modestly,  an  Inter- 
denominational Conference.  Now  they  have  met  as  a Council,  a 
Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  America.  Every  one  of  the  great 
denominations  of  Christians,  except  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
has  officially  recognised  the  Council,  approved  its  constitution,  and 
accepted  membership  m it.  It  is  not  a federation  of  Churches,  but 
of  denominations.  It  is  made  up  of  delegates  appointed  by  the 
denominations  in  their  conventions.  Each  denomination  is  entitled  to 
delegates  to  the  number  of  one  delegate  for  every  fifty  thousand 
members.  Thirty-three  denominations  are  represented  and  eighteen 
millions  of  Christian  people. 

I was  accorded  the  very  great  honor  of  representing  the  Council 
in  its  last  public  meeting,  a reception  tendered  to  the  delegates  by  all 
the  Churches  of  Philadelphia.  This  compliment  was  not  offered  to 
me  because  of  any  service  which  it  was  in  my  power  to  render,  but 
because  it  was  desired  to  hear  an  English  voice  and  have  the  world- 
wide view  presented  by  one  who  had  seen  much  of  the  work  in  other 
lands.  For  this  movement  for  the  federation  of  Protestant  Christianity 
did  not  begin  in  America.  It  began  in  England  many  years  ago 
From  the  moment  of  the  inception  of  the  idea,  long  before  the  first 
Council  was  called  into  existence,  it  has  been  my  happy  fortune  to 
be  associated  with  the  work,  and  1 had  a seat  upon  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  National  Council  up  to  the  time  of  leaving  England. 
Representatives  of  the  National  Council  of  Great  Britain  have  visited 
with  great  results  South  Africa  and  Australia,  and  the  British  move- 


5 


ment  is  influencing  the  life  of  the  Churches  there.  It  would  not  be 
surprising  if,  with  characteristic  audacity,  the  Englishman  claimed 
some  credit  for  the  birth  and  growth  of  the  movement  here.  And  if 
he  were  so  daring  you  would  have  your  answer  ready  : It  is  not  the 
first  time  in  history  that  on  this  continent  you  have  outgrown  your 
progenitors  and  bettered  their  instruction! 

One  does  well  to  speak  within  the  bounds  of  sane  and  reasoned 
forecast.  Y et  it  would  be  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  importance  and 
the  promise  of  this  Council.  It  stands  for  the  greatest  effort  toward 
the  unity  of  Christendom  which  Christendom  has  seen  since  it  first 
stood  divided  against  itself.  And  I believe  that  I shall  be  chargeable 
with  no  fantastic  exaggeration,  but  only  possessed  of  the  pre-vision  of 
a daring  faith,  if  I declare  that  m the  magnitude  of  its  blessing  it  may 
represent  the  greatest  gift  which  America  has  yet  given  to  the  world. 

It  is  fitting  that  such  a service  of  mankind  should  be  rendered 
by  this  great  land.  Consider  the  negative  advantages  which  this 
country  possesses  as  compared  with  England,  the  home  of  the  idea 
and  the  mother  of  the  Council.  There  is  no  State  establishment  of 
a Church  in  this  country  to  hamper  the  progress  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  and  debase  religion  most  in  the  hands  of  its  official  chiefs. 
John  Morley,  “ honest  John,”  now  Viscount  Morley  of  Blackburn, 
has  said  that  “the  State  establishment  of  religion  has  divided  England 
into  two  hostile  camps  ever  since  the  time  of  Elizabeth.”  And  that 
witness  is  true.  Mr.  Bryce  says  that  “ of  all  the  differences  between 
the  old  world  and  the  new,  this  is  perhaps  the  most  salient.  Half  the 
wars  of  Europe,  half  the  internal  troubles  that  have  vexed  European 
States  have  arisen  from  theological  differences  or  from  the  rival  claims 
of  Church  and  State.  This  whole  vast  chapter  of  debate  and  strife 
has  remained  virtually  unopened  in  the  United  States.”*  From  this 
point  of  view  the  way  is  clear  in  this  country.  In  England  strength 
has  been  spent  in  conflict.  The  federation  of  the  Churches  is  a fed- 
eration of  the  Free  Churches  only.  The  Established  Church  remains 
outside.  Sacerdotalism  and  Sacramentarianism  have  their  home  inside 
the  Established  Church.  The  Free  Church  Councils  have  had  to 
exhaust  themselves  in  expounding  the  Scriptural  idea  of  the  Church. 

* “ The  American  Commonwealth.”  Vol.  2,  p.  570. 


6 


Where  Christ  is,  there  His  Church  is,  and  there  is  His  kingdom  and 
His  power  and  His  glory.  England  has  witnessed  the  humiliating 
spectacle  of  her  greatest  son,  Gladstone  himself,  standing,  as  it  were, 
cap  in  hand  knocking  at  the  doors  of  the  Vatican,  asking  the  Pope  to 
recognise  the  validity  of  the  “orders”  of  the  Episcopal  clergy.  From 
a thousand  platforms  the  Free  Churchman  has  had  to  protest  that 
the  “ orders  ” of  any  lay  preacher  on  a village  green,  or  city  mission- 
ary in  a cnme-cursed  slum,  or  teacher  of  an  infant  class  in  a Sunday 
School,  or  of  a godly  old  woman  in  the  pew,  are  as  valid  as  those 
of  any  Bishop  that  ever  sat  in  St.  Augustine’s  chair.  While  one-half 
of  the  religious  life  of  the  nation  has  been  asserting  the  doctrine  of  a 
visible  Church,  an  apostolic  succession,  and  a sacrificing  priesthood, 
the  other  half,  the  Free  Churchmen  of  the  country,  have  been  assert- 
ing the  God-given  right  and  power  of  every  human  creature  to  come 
direct  to  a crucified  and  risen  Christ  without  the  intervention  of 
Church  or  priest  or  rite.  These  are  not  living  issues  in  this  country. 
In  Mr.  Bryce’s  words,  “This  whole  vast  chapter  remains  virtually 
unopened.”  The  Episcopal  Church  is  represented  in  the  Federal 
Council.  Conflict  may  lie  before  us,  but  not  conflict  with  each  other. 

Positively,  the  field  which  America  presents  for  this  vast  exper- 
iment in  Church  unity  shows  to  yet  more  signal  advantage. 

The  method  which  the  promoters  of  unity  have  adopted  is  that 
of  federation,  and  federation  is  the  method  through  which  the  Amer- 
ican genius  of  liberty  expresses  itself  in  governmental  institutions. 
This  country  has  seen  federation  at  work  on  a scale  more  mag- 
nificent than  was  ever  before  dreamed  of  in  human  history.  The 
principle  has  been  sorely  tried,  tned  by  secession  and  by  war.  T o-day 
it  is  stronger  for  the  trial.  No  good  man  or  good  woman  can  be 
thankful  for  the  dreadful  days  which  lie  behind.  Every  good  man 
and  good  woman  can  be  thankful  for  the  good  that  has  come  out  of 
them,  for  the  demonstration  given  to  this  nation  and  by  this  nation  of 
God’s  effective  purpose  in  bringing  light  out  of  darkness,  order  out  of 
chaos,  and  causing  the  wrath  of  His  enemies  to  praise  Flim.  He  is 
a poor  American  who  does  not  believe  that  the  greatness  of  this 
country  has  yet  only  reached  its  dawn. 


7 


Federation,  then,  is  the  method  chosen.  And  this  method  does 
not  demand  uniformity  of  creed,  identity  of  worship,  or  a single 
organisation.  No  attempt  is  made  to  interfere  with  the  autonomy 
of  any  Church  or  of  any  body  of  Churches.  None  is  made  to  touch 
the  doctrine,  the  discipline,  the  polity  of  any.  Neither  is  there  any 
attempt  made  to  minimise  in  discussion  the  conscientious  differences 
which  separate  Churches  and  denominations.  It  is  perceived  that 
many  of  these  barriers  between  Churches  are  breaking  down  at  the 
top  and  wearing  thin  in  places,  so  that  already  good  men  and  true 
can  shake  hands  across  them,  and  through  them  a brother  can  feel 
the  beating  of  a brother’s  heart.  Yet  it  is  recognised  that  there  are 
convictions  tenaciously  and  honorably  held,  loyally  and  lovingly  pro- 
claimed, and  that  these  for  the  time  being  mark  off  denomination 
from  denomination.  Such  differences  exist  for  good  and  not  for  evil. 
That  may  not  be  your  opinion,  yet  I beg  you  to  think  about  it.  I am 
quite  sure  that  it  is  true.  To  every  one  of  the  great  historic  denom- 
inations has  been  entrusted  a special  truth,  or  a special  way  of  holding 
and  presenting  truth,  which  fastens  upon  the  denomination  the  obli- 
gation to  go  on  living  and  working  until  the  truth  for  which  it  stands 
has  been  absorbed  by  the  whole  Church  of  God.  Not  until  it  has 
delivered  its  message,  borne  its  witness,  done  its  work,  should  it  be 
allowed  to  pass  away.  For  the  message  and  the  witness  and  the 
work  of  all  are  needed.  There  is  no  one  point  of  view  from  which 
you  could  see  the  whole  of  this  building,  small  as  it  is.  If  you  could 
see  the  whole  of  the  outside  of  it,  you  could  not  at  the  same  time  see 
the  whole  of  the  inside ! There  is  no  one  point  of  view  from  which 
up  to  the  present  time  the  Church  has  been  able  to  see  the  whole 
temple  of  truth.  Every  point  of  view  has  been  needed.  In  an  army  it 
is  impossible  that  all  should  be  cavalry,  or  all  infantry,  or  all  artillery, 
or  all  engineers.  The  commander  knows  the  value  of  Vesprit  de 
corps,  but  who  is  there  who  does  not  know  as  well  the  value  of 
Vesprit  d’armee  ? Why  should  we,  the  question  is  an  old  one, 
mis-know  one  another  for  mere  difference  of  weapon  and  of  uniform. 
Every  weapon  shall  be  a good  weapon  if  a strong  arm  wields  it,  and 
every  uniform  a good  uniform  so  a stout  heart  beats  beneath  it. 


8 


Federation  is  not  the  only  word  which  rings  with  the  big- 
ness and  bravery  of  the  United  States.  I have  just  used  the  word 
“absorption.”  And  if  we  say  that  federation  is  harmonious  with  the 
American  spirit,  we  must  go  on  to  add  that  absorption  is  America 
itself.  For  the  American  is  the  product  of  absorption,  and  America 
is  not  so  much  a term  of  geography  as  of  human  spirit.  This  country 
takes  of  the  restless,  the  aspiring,  the  ambitious,  the  young,  of  every 
nation.  It  absorbs  Teuton,  Celt,  Scandinavian,  Slav;  and  it  produces, 
not  an  Englishman  with  a dash  of  the  German  in  him,  nor  a Dutch- 
man with  traces  of  the  Italian  in  his  blood,  nor  some  other  peculiar 
person  of  that  character;  but  America  takes  them  all,  and  with  her 
climate,  her  institutions,  her  life,  that  for  which  you  have  no  name 
but  “America,”  produces  the  American,  a new  person  upon  the  face 
of  the  earth.  And  so  I conceive  of  the  Church  of  the  future,  taking 
from  all  the  Churches,  absorbing  the  best  for  which  all  the  Churches 
have  always  stood,  losing  nothing  that  has  been  worth  retaining,  and 
doing  m her  sphere  m America  what  America  does  in  her  own.  As 
America  has  not  lost  in  producing  the  American  that  which  is  best 
in  the  Englishman  or  the  German  or  the  Hollander,  so  the  Church 
will  not  willingly  lose  the  Episcopalian’s  reverence  for  order,  the 
Presbyterian’s  demand  for  accuracy,  the  fire  and  fervour  of  the  Meth- 
odist, or  the  contribution  of  the  Congregationalist  and  Baptist  to  civil 
and  religious  liberty.  And  the  product  will  be,  not  an  Episcopalian 
Baptist,  or  a Presbyterian  Methodist,  but  a Christian,  without  adjec- 
tives and  without  limitations,  heir  of  all  the  Churches  in  the  foremost 
files  of  time. 

It  is  not  difficult  for  me  to  conceive  of  a single  Church  exhibit- 
ing within  its  local  limitations  this  type  of  Christian.  For  more  than 
sixteen  years  I was  minister  of  such  a Church,  and  I am  not  able  to 
claim  any  credit  for  its  organisation  and  its  spirit.  Seventy  years  ago 
Pembroke  Chapel  was  built  in  Liverpool  for  the  ministry  of  a pro- 
phetic man,  the  father  of  the  present  Secretary  of  State  for  Ireland 
in  King  Edward’s  cabinet.  Under  its  title  deeds'"  the  unbaptised  are 
admitted  to  full  membership  on  equal  terms  with  the  baptised.  It  is  a 

* Corresponding,  I suppose,  to  the  charter  of  incorporation  of  a Church  in  the  State  of 
New  York. 


9 


Baptist  church,  you  understand,  associated  like  any  other  Baptist 
church  with  the  Baptist  denomination,  practicing  Baptism  of  adults 
by  immersion,  but  admitting,  as  I say,  the  unbaptised  on  a common 
ground.  There  was  nothing  to  require  even  that  the  deacons  should 
be  baptised,  and,  as  a matter  of  fact,  some  of  the  deacons  had  not 
been.  It  was  the  first  Baptist  church  in  modern  times  to  take  this 
stand,  but  a great  number  of  Baptist  churches  in  England  have  fol- 
lowed its  lead,  notably  the  great  church  over  which  Dr.  Maclaren 
presided  in  Manchester  and  that  of  which  Dr.  Clifford  is  pastor  in 
London.  My  feeling  is  that  there  ought  to  be  at  least  one  such  Church 
in  every  great  city  in  this  country.  1 do  not  say  that  there  should  not 
be  more  than  one,  but  every  city  needs  at  least  one.  1 do  not  at  the 
present  time  discuss  it  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  denomination, 
but  it  would  be  good  to  have  such  a demonstration  of  the  possibility 
of  Christian  unity  given  in  every  important  centre  in  the  land.  And 
the  watchword  of  such  a Church  would  be  something  like  that  which 
Charles  M.  Birrell  proclaimed  in  Liverpool  seventy  years  ago,  that 
“ the  Church  of  God  below  should  be  as  broad  as  the  Church 
of  God  above,”  and  that  “ the  Church  should  not  reject  from  her 
fellowship  on  earth  those  whom  Christ  will  receive  into  fellowship 
in  heaven.” 

And  since  I have  said  these  things  I may  as  well  go  on  to  tell 
you  of  a dream  of  mine.  It  is  only  a dream,  and  perhaps  no  sufficient 
number  of  persons  are  dreaming  the  same  thing  at  the  same  time  to 
afford  any  hope  that  it  will  materialise.  “The  dreams  that  nations 
dream  come  true  and  shape  the  world  anew,”  but  perhaps  the  dream 
of  an  individual  counts  for  nothing.  Yet,  though  it  is  only  a vision, 
I will  cherish  it.  For  I have  dared  to  dream  of  some  great  Temple 
of  the  Living  God  in  this  city  of  New  York,  wherein  shall  gather 
for  worship  all  good  men  and  good  women  who  desire  only  to 
worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  It  shall  not  be  Protestant  nor  Catholic. 
It  shall  not  even  be  Aryan  or  Semite.  It  shall  be  built,  if  you  like, 
by  a Christian  and  endowed  by  a Jew.  It  shall  learn  from  the 
prophets  of  every  name  whom  God  has  sent  to  every  age  and  people. 
It  shall  hold  fellowship  with  all  who  have  purely  lived  and  bravely 
died.  It  shall  unite  all  who  love  for  the  sake  of  all  who  suffer. 


10 


John  Wesley  is  usually  regarded  as  orthodox  enough  for  most  of  us. 
“ I read,”  he  says,  “ to-day  part  of  the  meditations  of  Marcus  Anto- 
ninus. What  a strange  Emperor ! And  what  a strange  heathen ! 
Giving  thanks  to  God  for  all  the  good  things  he  enjoyed— in  par- 
ticular for  his  good  inspiration,  and  for  twice  revealing  to  him,  in 
dreams,  things  whereby  he  was  cured  of  otherwise  incurable  dis- 
tempers. I make  no  doubt  but  this  is  one  of  those  ‘ many  ’ who 
shall  ‘come  from  the  east  and  the  west  and  sit  down  with  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob  while  the  ‘children  of  the  Kingdom’ — nominal 
Christians — are  ‘ shut  out.’  ’’  In  this  temple  of  my  dreams  many 
shall  come  from  the  east  and  from  the  west  and  sit  down  with 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  the  children  of  the  Kingdom, 
howsoever  called,  shall  be  in  no  wise  shut  out. 

Let  us  return  to  the  Council,  its  power  to-day,  its  promise  of 
to-morrow. 

This  one  thing  should  be  said.  While  we  have  talked  of  unity, 
and  prayed  for  it,  and  planned  for  it,  and  worked  for  it,  lo  ! unity  is 
already  here.  It  has  come,  like  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  without 
observation.  On  the  foreign  field  progress  toward  unity  is  amazing. 
The  missionaries  have  realized  the  need,  seen  the  opportunity,  as  wise 
men  have  responded  to  the  clear  call  of  duty.  Divisions  at  home 
have  represented  facts;  facts,  that  is  to  say,  of  historical  development. 
Those  “facts”  do  not  exist  in  the  foreign  lands.  There  has  been  no 
need  to  transplant  them  or  reproduce  them.  Some  of  the  differences 
of  organization  in  this  country  are  due  to  sectional  and  historic  causes. 
But  there  is  no  earthly  reason  why  a southern  Chinaman  should  be  a 
northern  Presbyterian,  or  a northern  Indian  should  be  a southern 
Baptist ! Where  a number  of  missionary  organisations  are  represented 
in  a given  centre  the  monthly  meeting  is  a meeting  of  missionaries,  not 
of  Baptist  missionaries,  or  of  Presbytenan  missionaries,  or  of  Meth- 
odist missionaries,  but  of  missionaries  pure  and  simple.  Wherever 
united  work  is  possible,  united  word  is  done.  Without  dictation  from 
officials  at  home,  without  pressure  from  home,  the  missionaries  are 
simply  coming  together  because — why,  because  they  are  together, 
and  that  is  ail  there  is  in  it ! Steps  m the  direction  of  the  elimination 
of  denominational  characteristics  wherever  practicable  are  being 


taken,  for  the  simple  reason  that  there  is  no  ground  for  preserving 
them ; and  a literature  wall  be  offered  to  the  converts  in  heathen  lands 
w^hich  is  not  denominational,  but  Christian. 

At  home,  the  numerous,  powerful,  inter-denominational  organ- 
isations bear  witness  to  the  same  spirit  of  unity.  Consider  the 
American  Bible  Society,  which  has  been  at  work  for  nearly  a 
century.  It  has  distributed  eighty-two  millions  of  volumes.  Four 
times  m its  history  it  has  made  a systematic  attempt  to  supply  every 
needy  home  in  this  country  with  a copy  of  the  Scriptures.  The 
Bible  Society  is  not  denominational;  it  is  Christian.  Consider  the 
American  Tract  Society,  which  has  completed  its  eighty-third  year. 
Its  publications  have  been  printed  in  one  hundred  and  seventy-four 
languages.  Its  parish  is  the  world.  The  American  Tract  Society  is 
not  denominational;  it  is  Christian.  Consider  the  Young  Men’s 
Christian  Association,  with  its  half  million  of  members,  with  one  in 
four  of  the  college  students  of  the  United  States  on  its  rolls,  with  its 
railroad  department,  the  second  largest  brotheihood  in  the  world ; 
and  the  Young  Women’s  Christian  Association,  attempting  the  same 
kind  of  work  for  the  young  womanhood  of  the  country.  These 
associations  are  not  denominational ; they  are  Christian.  And  such 
organisations  as  the  Young  People’s  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor, 
the  Students’  Volunteer  Movement,  and  twenty  more  will  appeal  to 
you  as  evidences  to  your  hand,  even  if  unthought  of  until  this  moment, 
that  the  coming  unity  is  not  far  away. 

The  value  of  the  Federal  Council  considered  only  as  a 
deliberative  assembly  must  be  very  great.  The  delegates,  you  wall 
recollect,  are  appointed  by  the  denominations.  There  can  only  be 
one  delegate  for  fifty  thousand  members.  It  is  clear,  therefore, 
that  the  picked  men  of  the  denominations,  only  those  who  occupy 
some  position  of  prominence  and  influence,  will  stand  any  chance  of 
election.  In  sheer  weight  of  intellect  such  a company  would  bear 
comparison  with  any  other  deliberative  assembly  of  equal  numbers 
that  could  be  brought  together  in  this  country.  With  what  a voice 
of  authority  the  Churches  would  speak  if  the  Churches  spoke  as 
a Church  and  with  one  voice ! There  are  certain  things  which 
depend  for  their  accomplishment  upon  the  belief  of  everybody  that 


12 


everybody  else  Is  thinking  and  feeling  and  ready  to  act  in  the  same 
way.  We  have  been  made  very  tired  sometimes  by  critics  telling 
us  what  the  Churches  could  do  if  they  would.  All  that  has  been 
needed  is  the  willingness  on  the  part  of  everybody  to  do  it ! And 
those  who  were  willing  have  been  curiously  held  responsible  for 
the  unwillingness  of  the  others ! But  now  think  of  the  value  of  a 
pronouncement,  carefully  considered  and  debated,  by  the  picked 
men  of  all  the  Churches,  realising  the  responsibility  which  rested 
upon  them  to  speak  in  their  organised  and  corporate  capacity  as  the 
mouthpiece  of  twenty  millions  of  Christian  people.  Think  of  their 
united  testimony  on  such  questions  as  Labor  and  Capital ; the  Right 
and  the  Wrong  Use  of  Sunday;  Laws  of  Marriage  and  Divorce, 
and  the  Sanctity  of  Family  Life;  the  Enforcement  of  Law;  Tem- 
perance, and  the  Prohibition  of  the  Liquor  T raffle ; International 
Peace,  and  the  Federation  of  the  World ! 

I plead  for  your  sympathy  with  the  Federal  Council  of  the 
Churches  of  Christ  in  America.  I ask  for  your  intelligent  interest 
in  it.  I ask  for  more.  You  are  people  of  light  and  leading  m the 
Churches,  of  social  position,  and  of  wealth.  I ask  for  your  leader- 
ship in  this  movement.  I pray  you  help  it  wherever  you  can ; hinder 
it  never.  Do  not  take  upon  yourselves  the  serious  responsibility  of 
interposing  the  slightest  obstacle  m the  way  of  its  onward,  triumphant 
march.  But  as  you  have  prayed  and  do  pray  the  Saviour’s  prayer 
“ that  they  all  may  be  one,”  so,  I entreat  you,  let  your  thought  and 
work  and  gifts  tend  to  the  realisation  of  this  prayer.  And  whenever 
the  appeal  is  made  to  you  and  the  opportunity  can  be  found  or  made 
— found  or  made — support  the  Federal  Council  and  hasten  the  day 
of  the  coming  unity. 

Let  me  tell  you  a story.  I said  that  the  federation  movement 
began  in  England.  It  did.  But  there  were  meetings  of  Englishmen 
held  outside  England  which  prepared  the  way  for  it.  Nearly  twenty 
years  ago  a number  of  preachers  and  influential  members  of  churches 
held  conference  in  Grindelwald,  in  the  far-off  Berenese  Oberland, 
with  a view  to  the  re-union  of  Christendom.  That  was  their  modest 
and  timorous  project ; not  the  re-union  of  the  Free  Churches  of  Eng- 
land; not  even  the  re-union  of  Churches  in  Great  Britain.  Nothing 


13 


less  than  the  re-union  of  Christendom  would  satisfy  that  handful 
of  devout  persons.  They  were  kind  enough  to  ask  me,  even  in 
those  early  days  of  my  ministry,  to  join  them,  and  I accepted  their 
invitation,  though  that  dash  of  commonsense  which  is  the  misfortune 
of  my  birth  told  me  that  it  was  magnificent,  but  not  war.  Well,  we 
gathered  together  there  for  several  successive  summers,  under  the 
shadow  of  the  Wetterhorn;  and  we  did  not  re-unite  Christendom! 
We  prepared  the  way,  however,  for  the  Federation  of  the  Free 
Churches  of  England,  and  there  is,  perhaps,  a direct  and  vital 
connection  between  the  Grindelwald  Conference  and  the  Federal 
Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America.  But  to  my  story : 
One  Sunday  evening  Pere  Hyacinthe  preached  to  us.  I can  see 
the  scene  again.  The  poor  little  Zwinglian  Chapel,  with  its  white- 
washed walls,  squat,  ugly,  with  its  oil  lamps,  reeking  atmosphere, 
and  the  perspiration  pouring  down  our  cheeks,  and  perched  on  the 
top  of  the  wall,  in  the  egg-shell  pulpit,  his  shoulders  bent  lest  his 
head  should  strike  the  roof,  the  gigantic  figure  of  the  Pere,  once  the 
most  famous  preacher  in  Europe,  the  favorite  preacher  of  Pope  Pious 
IX,  before  he  seceded  from  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  and  with 
Dr.  Dollinger  attempted  to  found  the  Old  Catholic  Communion. 
And  the  very  walls  quivered  under  the  impact  of  his  eloquence  as 
he  declared  to  us — he  spoke  to  us  in  French,  but  even  those  who 
could  not  follow  his  passion  felt  that  he  spoke  as  one  inspired — 
“In  the  sixteenth  century,  the  Church  saved  Christianify  by  separa- 
tion. In  the  twentieth  century,  Christianity  will  save  the  Churches 
by  bringing  them  together.  ” The  prophecy  is  being  fulfilled  in  our 
midst.  The  Churches  need  to  be  saved.  Not  denominationalism 
will  save  them,  but  Christianity.  Christianity  will  save  the  Churches 
by  bringing  them  together.  And  I would  have  you  look  forward 
hopefully,  longingly,  to  the  day  when  the  other  sheep  Christ  has, 
not  of  this  fold,  shall  hear  His  voice,  and,  however  many  folds  there 
may  be,  “they  shall  become  one  flock,  one  shepherd.” 


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i.  • 


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V 


